Bush
warned over 'axis of evil'European
leaders insist diplomacy is the way to deal with three nations singled
out by AmericaBy Ian
Black in Brussels, John Hooper in Berlin and Oliver Burkeman in New York,
The
Guardian, 5 February 2002

A chorus of European leaders
indicated yesterday that they would oppose military action against the
states identified by George Bush as an "axis of evil", as the split between
Europe and Washington widened further.

Germany led the protests, sending
a shrill, clear signal that it wants nothing to do with an attack on Iraq,
named alongside Iran and North Korea in President Bush's state of the union
address a week ago.

Berlin's deputy foreign minister,
Ludger Vollmer, said: "We Europeans warn against it. There is no indication,
no proof that Iraq is involved in the terrorism we have been talking about
for the last few months... this terror argument cannot be used to legitimise
old enmities."

German leaders have repeatedly expressed
opposition in recent months to an extension of the military war on terrorism.
"Iraq is certainly a bad state. We see few positive signs there," Mr Vollmer
said yesterday. "But the solution cannot lie in attacking it militarily."

Other EU member states said they
planned to stick with their dialogues with Iran and North Korea. Diplomats
in Brussels said yesterday there were no plans to review relations, in
line with the union's policy of engaging with countries rather than seeking
to isolate them.

Echoing statements by Jack Straw,
the foreign secretary, EU sources insisted it was important to encourage
moderates in Iran against clerical and hardline groups, including those
apparently responsible for an arms shipment to the Palestinian Authority.

Asked about Mr Bush's approach to
the "axis of evil", European Commission spokesman Gunnar Weigand said senior
EU representatives "do not agree with that kind of policy".

The EU shared America's aims on human
rights, terrorism and weapons proliferation, he said, but "what we do not
share is the policy desired to achieve these objectives. We believe that
engagement and rapprochement... should be used to achieve these aims."

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy
chief, urged the US to act multilaterally and not as a "global unilateralist".

Privately, EU diplomats have dismissed
Mr Bush's remarks as being made to suit a domestic audience, and say they
are viewed with unease by the secretary of state, Colin Powell, and other
doves in the cabinet. Publicly, they can do little more than put on a brave
face.

The objections are likely to further
enrage the Bush administration, which responded with fury to a comment
by Mr Straw on Friday that the "axis of evil" speech was more of a vote-winning
tactic in forthcoming US elections than a military strategy.

Condoleezza Rice, the president's
national security adviser, said: "This is not about American politics,
and I assume that when the British government speaks about foreign policy,
it's not about British politics."

EU foreign ministers are likely to
discuss the issue when they meet in the Spanish town of Caceres at the
weekend, where they will have to tread carefully over a request by Iraq
to hold talks with Spain, holder of the EU's rotating presidency - a clear
attempt to exploit transatlantic differences.

European leaders remain dubious about
US charges that Iran exports terror or has links with al-Qaida.

The Russian defence minister, Sergei
Ivanov, said on Sunday that there was no evidence that Iran had connections
with terrorist organisations. He said Russia had its own list of "rogue
states" and named the US's ally Saudi Arabia, which Moscow says helps fund
Chechen separatists.

The controversy came as the Bush
cabinet asked Congress to double US aid to Jordan to $448m (£317m)
in 2003, in a move to lay the ground for potential military action against
its neighbour, Iraq.

The administration wants to give
Jordan $198m in the form of weapons, up from $75m this year. Economic support
funds would rise from $150m to $250m, according to budget documents.

"The money will be used to improve
border controls targeting the flow of weapons, including weapons of mass
destruction, and to support financial training, trade and investment and
to strengthen educational opportunities," the White House office of management
and budget said.

Iraq, Jordan's neighbour to the east,
stands accused by the US of developing nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons. On its western border, Jordan has sought to prevent the smuggling
of arms to Palestinians fighting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.